Antidote
by Gorram.Doll
Summary: Their, his, and her circumstances. Pyro seeks Rogue out after he meets up with Bobby. Set during X3.
1. Their

**Disclaimer: X-Men are belong to MARVEL. Or Stan Lee. Or Whomever.**

* * *

He's outside, in the picket line, and it's the first time they see each other face-to-face since he joined enemy ranks.  
She stands in a different line and Magneto told him to lay low but he can't let her do it, and all it takes is one strong surge of fire to blow the place up.

"John-" she doesn't want to look at him, really, anywhere but him. "-please, don't." And he needs to, he forces her to see him. "Ah have t'." He's holding her arms, he shakes her.

"Drake's not worth it!" He's mad. She gathers as much. Rogue manages to remain quiet as he shoves her against the wall of the alley and steps closer toward her, his very presence hot against her own.

He lets out a bark of dry laughter when her eyes avoid his like scaredy kittens. His head hovers above her shoulder.  
"Would you've found out? If you hadn't touched me." His tone is bitter, sober.

"It was in your thoughts. When you were... with the police." She speaks less than necessary, which angers him again.

"He doesn't deserve you," flies out his lips. She says nothing, her mouth set stubbornly. Pyro tries to coax a response out of her with a kiss, which ends at nothing shortly after her pull begins.

He punches violently at the wall behind her, she flinches and opens her eyes to watch him leave.  
"John..."

"It's Pyro."

Her fingertips raise to her own lips, and he's left her with all the answers he'd never say outloud, but instead pushed to the forefront of his mind.  
The burn in his mouth still tickled her own.


	2. His

**Disclaimer: X-Men, Rogue and Pyro belong to Marvel or Stan Lee or etc. Title of these inspired by Crossfade's song "Cold".**

* * *

"You always do as you're told?" He tosses her a look over his shoulder and she looks so lovely he almost changes his mind and stays put, at the very least hauls her along.  
But Iceman's hand is closed over her own and his eyes darken and he turns his back on them. And she's seen inside his head and knows what's in there so there's no way she'd ever want anything to do with him anyway. So he makes himself take a step after the other.

It's almost easy enough to hate her-she IS one of them-but when he runs into freaking Bobby Drake and it's so very blatantly obvious she's about to throw it all away for someone as weak as the living Popsicle.  
It's rage that first sets that place on fire, and however many it takes him to find her.

And her skin is still blessedly poisonous. Not even dropping dead could have stopped him from kissing her just that once. And the rush is just a whole new addiction. One he didn't really need to add, in top of that.

He leaves her before he becomes weak enough to not have that choice, but when has he ever?

It's a few blocks away when he realizes there's still a ghost of a smile on his lips.


	3. Hers

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Never have, never will. Final part.**

* * *

"You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about on the news? I'm the worst one."

Fire is shooting over their heads, and he manipulates the flame like he was born doing it.  
Her bare hand closes over his ankle and everything floods into her mind. Her own face, mixed feelings and she doesn't dwell too hard on that but puts off the flames.

Later, she'd ignore how his back is to them as they try to build a fire.  
And the fact that they've a lot to talk about when he chooses to up and leave without giving her a chance to talk to him.

* * *

She tells herself it's not for anyone other than her own good and almost believes it.

It becomes harder when she falls into the line and everybody seems to hate her: humans hate her for her mutation, whatever that might be; mutants hate her for being so willing to give it away. The hatred is almost too much to bear with.  
He stands there, judging.

She's only given but a few seconds' notice before the building blows up.

And he's rough with her but he's always been, even back when he let her call him Johnny. She thinks that part's still all of his.

And when he kisses her, it's almost exact to those dreams she's had ever since touching him, far too detailed, and the new glimpse into his mind only makes it clearer that they HAD been his dreams after all.

But he lets go, and turns, and walks away.

And Marie doesn't want to let him.


End file.
